33 



gins to flower about May. A young plant may be pro- 

 cured from a nursery as soon as its education is so far 

 advanced that it may be introduced to the world with pro- 

 priety. It will thrive well in a pot for many years : but 

 the best species for this purpose is the Chinese Arbor- vitae^ 

 which does not grow too large for a pot. It will bear our 

 climate in all its seasons, only requiring to be watered 

 occasionally in dry weather. 



Thunberg speaks in very warm terms of admiration of a 

 species of Thuja which he found common in Japan. " One 

 of the handsomest and largest trees," says he, " was the 

 superb and incomparable Thuja dolabrata, which was 

 planted every where by the road side. I consider this tree 

 as the handsomest of all the fir-leaved trees, on account of 

 its height, its straight trunk, and its leaves, which are con- 

 stantly green on the upper, and of a silver-white hue on the 

 under part. As I did not find it in flower here, nor any 

 of its cones with ripe seed in them, I therefore used my 

 endeavours to procure, through the interpreters and others 

 of my friends, a few seeds and growing plants of it, which 

 I afterwards sent to Holland by the first convey ance*." 



According to this author's account, the tree he speaks of 

 appears worthy to have inherited its ancestor's station in 

 paradise. That ancestor, however, was a very different tree 

 from the one which now bears the title. The original tree 

 of life is described by Milton : 



In this pleasant soil 



His far more pleasant garden God ordained ; 

 Out of the fertile ground he caused to grow 

 All trees of noblest kind for sight, smell, taste ; 

 And all amid them stood the tree of life, 

 High eminent, blooming ambrosial fruit 



* Thunberg's Travels, vol. iii. p. 160. 



